Sawmill plans, are a waste of money?
Some have said on other websites, that building a bandmill is a simple task to anyone with the skill to take on the job, what they never say is that it is much more efficient to build from a set of plans than to build from the plan in your head. Dont be fooled into thinking you are better off gathering your parts and whipping up a sawmill, buying a set of plans and then buying the materials required in the plans is a much more efficient way to handle such a large task, you will save time and money. Dont get me wrong home built is a great way to go just make shure you you have at least a few sketches to build from.
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Sharpening your chainsaw
A well maintained saw will run for years, the most important thing to remember about a chainsaw is that you cannot do anything without a sharp saw, you will not be able to make even one straight cut into your wood without a sharp saw, I will outline the steps to creating a sharp saw with a round file. The chainsaw chain has a unique method of cutting wood the chain removes wood with the top of the chain(fig 1) and the hook(fig 2)
Fig 1
Fig 2
The hook must be low enough from the top of the tooth too curl the wood away from the cut. all this is accomplished with a stoke of the file, either a two handed stroke or a one handed stroke, stroke angle (fig 3) determines the hook size as well
Fig 3
Correct tilt
Correct angle
Place the saw on a solid surface or in a bench vise to begin, make sure you are using the correct size file for your chain, you can ask this when you purchase your saw, a file handle is also required so that the right pressure to the file can be applied, the file must be pressed hard enough to cut the tooth. Start with the correct position and file drawn back (Fig 4)
Fig 4
Push the file across the tooth while pushing down (fig 5)(black arrow) and back, (yellow arrow) also maintain the original angle of your chain
Fig 5
Start again from the beginning of the stroke and repeat until the top of the chain has a straight sharp edge (Fig 1), continue through all the teeth until the entire chain is sharp, if your tooth angles are not the same on both sides of your chain then the saw will not cut in a straight line, most chain has a small line at the back of the tooth (Fig 6) to help you maintain the proper angle
Fig 6
And thats it! easy as pie.
The worlds first sawmill was Canadian made!
Worlds first sawmill
Another great canadian innovation!
Scientific American—November 18, 1876
There is on exhibition at the Centennial a machine commonly known as the Canada sawmill, which has attracted much favorable notice both on account of the simplicity of its construction and the speed and accuracy with which it accomplishes its work. It was designed by the Waterous Engine Company, of Brantford, Ontario, Canada, expressly for use in the extensive lumber districts of the Dominion, to saw up the timber in the localities where it is felled, and thus to save the trouble and the expense of the carriage or rafting of the logs to distant points; and being portable, it may readily be moved from an exhausted part of a forest to a new situation. The machine is also excellently adapted for employment in shipyards, in most of which establishments in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, we are informed, it has superseded whip sawing by hand.
In the annexed engravings, Fig. 1 represents the mill as it appeared at work while on exhibition at the Santiago (Chili) Exposition of 1875; and in Fig. 2 the portable boiler and engine are shown. The portable machine has a 20 horse power engine, which, together with its boiler, is of such weight and of such construction that both boiler and engine may easily be loaded on trucks, when changing the position of the mill, without any disconnection being necessary; so that the labor of a skillful machinist is not required to readjust the mechanism. The saw mandrel, feed, and gig work are compactly arranged in an iron frame, and can also be loaded and moved without being taken apart; so that, when resetting the mill, all that is necessary is to frame the foundation timbers previously used in the ground, set the mill on them, coupling the engine shaft and saw mandrel, lay the track, place the carriage on it, and the mill is then ready to start. The whole operation does not take more than from one to two days. The boiler is supplied with sawdust grates, by means of which it is enabled to keep up a full supply of steam with no other fuel than pine sawdust and refuse edgings. It is also covered with hair felting and lagged with wood or sheet iron. Its form is clearly shown in Fig. 2.
The plates are of the best English material, and the heads are Lowmoor iron. Each boiler is subjected to 120 lbs. cold water pressure before shipment. The 20 horse power engine drives a 56 inch saw, which will, it is claimed, cut from 6,000 to 10,000 feet of lumber per day, or 1,000 feet of one inch pine lumber in a single hour. The 25 horse power engine, which is usually employed in connection with a tubular stationary boiler, drives any size of saw up to 66 inches, and its capacity is said to be from 8,000 to 12,000 feet of lumber per day.
At the Chili Exposition, the 20 horse power mill, we are informed, sawed and edged 1,060 feet of lumber in 40 minutes, vanquishing all competitors and gaining a medal and diploma. It has received the first premiums at ten Canadian Provincial Exhibitions, besides a highly favorable report from the judges at the Centennial.
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